?? Is it hard to get atar over 85 ?? (1 Viewer)

biologysucks · Oct 25, 2021

Hi, I'm an international student whos currently in year 12 and is going to take the first HSC exams after 15 days...

Long story short, I was just wondering if it is difficult to get an atar over 85 if you do well in school work but mess up HSC.

I am a person who is strong with assessments but weak at tests (especially HSC format). Since I knew that, I've been trying hard from year 10 to get good school ranks until year 12 and apply for early entry. It was the middle of this year when I found out that I can't apply for early entry since I'm an international. So what I did was to apply through my atar, which is giving me huge stress since I was definitely not ready.

It's been a hard year for me, not just covid, but I had a few losses that impacted me both mentally and physically. Staying in Australia for nearly 3 years by myself plus whatever happened to me was more than enough to impact my academic performance from the beginning of this year (year 12). Somehow I managed to perform well for my assessments so my ranks were good until trial HSC. But the overall study, it's completely messed up. I feel like I have to do all yr 12 subjects from zero since I missed huge content due to some shitty stuff happened to me.

I failed trial HSC, by saying of fail I'm talking about below 50. I have 5 subjects, E/ALD(English for internationals), Math ext1, Math ext2, Physics, and Chemistry. I don't have a tutor nor external help. Basically failed all subjects (legit 40 percent) except for English(60) and Math ext1(75).. Thankfully, my ranks are still pretty high due to my assessment marks.. BUT I am definitely not prepared for actual HSC. (I tried Ext 1 math paper and I was stuck on question 1 fr)

Most of the Uni that i wish to go to require atar above 85, and I just wanna hear others opinion about if it is possible to reach atar of 85 if I have good final ranks but terrible HSC score... I've seen lots of questions about failing school work but doing well in actual HSC, but not the opposite. Doesn't really matter if it is a worst case scenario but just enlighten me with this situation. I need some motivation whether is positive or not.

Greninja340 · Oct 25, 2021

depends on what school you go to i guess, if you go to a 300 ranked school then you internal ranks arent gonna do much but if you go to a like top 30 school i guess they could help, but regardless you are gonna have to do well in hsc, i think you need to change your mindset you still have some time bfore the HSC and you can still fix your subjects. For maths build your base off watching youtube videos from like Eddie Woo for topics you dont know yet and then do some textbook questions. For phys and chem i recomend "Science Ready" its a smaller channel but its pretty good content wise, there are others and you can defos use non-HSC ones too, and learn your content. Once youve learnt your content then do a few past papers you might not have enough time to do a whole heap so do the good ones, look at your answer and think how can i improve this, idk how EALD works so you might need to ask someone else regarding that. Also there are a tonne of notes on BoS so use them as a guide while you study.

tito981 · Oct 25, 2021

Since most of your subjects i pretty rote subjects. For chem and phys, its gonna be next to impossible to learn everything well conceptually, so your best bet would be to get good at the easy things, ie memorise typical calculations (e.g. calculating ph, back titrations, Keq calcs), be proficient at setting out graphs as they are easy marks. For maths, you can do the same with memorising question especially for complex numbers and integration for ext2 (for ext 1 the data sheet is all you need as basically everything is in there as long as you know what the variables are from the equations you can do well), but for ext 2 q15/16s may trouble you as you need both full knowledge and long exposure to hard questions. With english, im unaware of the EALD exam so i cannot advise anything.

Apart from that just grind past papers from now until exams.

5uckerberg · Oct 25, 2021

Truth is I reckon if you rock in maths and somewhat survive in Sciences or more better as in mid band 4-5 and push yourself hard in English to get a band 4-5 then you could get an ATAR around 85 or over.

Personal experience.

icycledough · Oct 25, 2021

Adding on to what everyone has said, I know that this shouldn't be ever thought of as an excuse or reason, but your subjects are very high scaling (with the exception of EAL/D). That can provide you with some reassurance. HOWEVER, that isn't to say you should slack off. Still aim for the maximum marks you can get, and who knows, you may even exceed your aspirations by a significant margin.

DheerChoudhury · Oct 25, 2021

I know not the answer to your questions, but I totally agree with your username

laterz laterz · Oct 25, 2021

No. EAL/D scaling is insane. I used to think it was rubbish too but it's legit goated.

Greninja340 · Oct 25, 2021

you chat it might be hard to get a good mark still

Epicman69 · Oct 25, 2021

I am pretty sure most unis in NSW, allow for EAS bonus points, which are bonus additions to your ATAR or Aggregate (not sure which one) that boosts your selection rank which is ultimately what universities use to rank applicants and give them offers. Also, it is ok if you messed on trials, considering you have some alright ranks, so ultimately what you need is just try your best, apply for bonus points due to any issues Whether that be losses or illnesses. Also, even if you don't do exceptionally well on the HSC you can still study your dream course by completing other pathways.

laterz laterz · Oct 25, 2021

just dont u chat

username_2 · Oct 25, 2021

Bro there's not eas points for international students its only for domestic students. Telling from experience because i am an international student who finished the hsc.

I will be completely real with you - the externals is still 50% of your thing and you need to get it down to a certain extent to get an 85 or above. And I do think it is possible if the only problem you have is with the exam, not the concepts and how you apply them. See the thing is half the battle is concepts and the other half the exam technique but the second half can be learnt much more quickly and efficiently for the first. So under that assumption, I will tell you the following which have really helped me even though my exam technique want the best before:

-> Never too late to do past papers but a crucial component of it is time - start by mcq timed, give yourself 15 min for 10 mcq and start. After you have finished, check your answer. If you have gotten anything wrong write it down as a list of common errors that you have made and this list must be unique for each subject. Everyday morning, review this list atleast thrice and think of the situations that you have made this error in. Even the smallest error counts and it is important you atleast try this

-> Next, we move on to the short-answer questions and here is where a study friend or a teacher who will respond to your question are useful but not always necessary. So for the number of marks, just add 5 min for each question and answer the question under timed conditions. Do a similar thing to before by checking the marking guidelines and ask yourself genuinely if your answer is b4, b5 or b6 level. If so, write down your reasoning for why it is the case. Repeat this multiple times for different questions. For questions you are unsure about, it is best to ask a teacher of how to approach it better or a friend to know how they would answer it. You could even post some here as there are many people that can help.

-> Finally, the long answer question - in english, i dont know if you use quotes but memorise them. But for the science, start by first reading the question twice, underlining the key action words, go the nesa keywords page and layout you answer based on the verbs. For example - Explain - Cause - Physics/ Why - Relations - Effect - Conclusion. As soon as you write out the layout (which you should time), start with the long answer question by assigning the time for it and write your answers in full.

-> Oh yeah and silly mistakes - can be only avoided if you think of why you're doing them and repeat the similar question to avoid them. Don't stress out on them tho.

Really tho, you get better only through rinse and repeat and you have 15 days. Try as much as you can but be sure to not burn yourself out. It is difficult but try to look back and why & how you want to do stuff after the hsc and why you might need the ATAR and try to keep going. You'll be fine regardless of rank or school but it is important you TRY even if the worst outcome were to come about. Hope this helps and yea.. all the best.

icycledough · Oct 25, 2021

Oh ok, I legit didn't know that at all. I thought it would have been on a similar level to Advanced

uniqueusername1 · Oct 25, 2021

Try and learn/memorise the main topics. I'm not gonna lie to you and say you can learn everything in 2 weeks. If you do manage to have time afterwards perhaps you could polish it later.

?? Is it hard to get atar over 85 ?? (1 Viewer)

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